Website planned to track consultant savings ideas

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – A website is planned by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration to show the savings that state government has gotten from using a consulting firm’s recommendations to help the state better balance its budget.

Ruth Johnson, with the governor’s Division of Administration, told lawmakers Friday that the website will track savings achieved by each agency. She says the Jindal administration wants to have the site running by the end of the month.

A 425-page report from New York-based firm Alvarez & Marsal, released in June, outlines proposals to save the state $2.7 billion over five years, by cutting costs or increasing state revenue.

Some of the plans were used to balance this year’s budget. But lawmakers have been skeptical about whether the savings will arrive and have pushed for a tracking mechanism.

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